Method and apparatus for controlling interrupt in portable terminal

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for controlling an interrupt in a portable terminal are provided. The method includes executing an application based on user&#39;s control, determining whether an event occurs during the application execution, displaying information representing the event occurrence on a screen while continuing the application execution, and determining whether to interrupt the application by the event based on user&#39;s control.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/619,065, filed on Sep. 14, 2012, which is related to andclaims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to an application No.10-2011-0112211 filed on Oct. 31, 2011 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in itsentirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a method and an apparatus forcontrolling an interrupt in a portable terminal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With a rapid increase in the number of users of portable terminals,service providers for the portable terminals provide various servicefunctions in order to attract more users. Accordingly, in addition to ageneral call function, recent portable terminals have variousapplications (hereinafter also referred to as an app or apps), such aselectronic scheduler, Internet search, digital multimedia broadcastreception, streaming service, video play, and game.

However, using the portable terminals as an advertisement means isincreasing due to the increase in the use of portable terminals.Accordingly, the number of cases where advertisement calls or messagesare received in portable terminals is rapidly increasing. However,although most of the advertisement calls or messages are not desired byusers, the portable terminals execute relevant apps to inform the usersof the call/message reception whenever receiving the advertisement callsor messages. This causes an inconvenience to the users.

For example, when receiving an advertisement call or message during theexecution of a video player app according to user's control, theportable terminal interrupts the execution of the video player app andexecutes an app corresponding to the advertisement call or message toprovide information on the advertisement call or message to the user.Accordingly, the user is inconvenienced by the interruption of the appsdue to the undesired advertisement calls or messages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, it is aprimary object to provide a method and an apparatus for minimizing theoccurrence of an interrupt during the execution of an application in aportable terminal.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a method and anapparatus for providing, when an event occurs during the execution of anapplication in a portable terminal, information on the event occurrenceto a user while continuing the application execution state.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a method and anapparatus for allowing, when an event occurs during the execution of anapplication in a portable terminal, a user to select whether tointerrupt the application.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method forcontrolling an interrupt in a portable terminal includes executing anapplication according to user's control, determining whether an eventoccurs during the application execution, displaying informationrepresenting the event occurrence on a screen while continuing theapplication execution and determining whether to interrupt theapplication by the event based on user's control.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus forcontrolling an interrupt in a portable terminal includes a control unitfor executing an application based on user's control, determiningwhether an event occurs during the application execution, controlling afunction for displaying information representing the event occurrencewhile continuing the application execution, and determining whether tointerrupt the application by the event based on user's control, adisplay unit for displaying images and information under the control ofthe control unit; and an input unit for receiving control informationfrom the user.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION below, itmay be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words andphrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and“comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion withoutlimitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases“associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivativesthereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with,contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, becommunicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximateto, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and theterm “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controlsat least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware,firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same.It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particularcontroller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally orremotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are providedthroughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the artshould understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitionsapply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words andphrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates a high level structural block diagram of a portableterminal according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart illustrating an operation process of aportable terminal according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate screen configurations for showing a methodfor handling an interrupt based on user's control when a call isreceived during the execution of an application in a portable terminalaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate screens showing a method for handling aninterrupt based on user's control when a message is received during theexecution of an application in a portable terminal according toembodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 through 4B, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged wireless communication device.Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the followingdescription, detailed descriptions of well-known functions orconfigurations will be omitted since they would unnecessarily obscurethe subject matters of the present invention. Also, the terms usedherein are defined according to the functions of the present invention.Thus, the terms may vary depending on users' or operators' intentions orpractices. Therefore, the terms used herein should be understood basedon the descriptions made herein.

Hereinafter, a description will be given of a method and apparatus forminimizing the occurrence of an interrupt during the execution of anapplication in a portable terminal according to the present disclosure.Examples of a portable terminal described herein may include a mobileterminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a smartphone, a netbook, a mobile Internet device (MID), an ultra mobilepersonal computer (UMPC), a tablet PC, a navigation device, and an MPEGAudio Layer-3 (MP3) player. Also, an interrupt described herein mayrefer to interrupting an app due to the occurrence of an event duringthe execution of the app and processing the event. Also, an appdescribed herein may refer to any application program that can beinstalled and operated in a portable terminal, such as electronicscheduler, Internet search, digital multimedia broadcast reception,streaming service, music play, video play, and game.

The present disclosure relates to a method and an apparatus forminimizing interruptions during the execution of an application in aportable terminal.

FIG. 1 illustrates a high level structural block diagram of a portableterminal according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Theportable terminal includes a control unit 100, a communication unit 110,a display unit 120, an input unit 130, and a storage unit 140. Thecontrol unit 110 also includes an interrupt controlling unit 102.

The control unit 100 controls and processes an overall operation of theportable terminal, and controls and processes a function for executingan app supported by the portable terminal, according to user's control.In particular, according to the present disclosure, with the interruptcontrolling unit 102, the control unit 100 controls and processesfunctions for displaying, when an event occurs during the execution ofan app, information related to the event occurrence on a screen andcontrolling whether to interrupt the app based on user's control. Theevent can include call reception, message reception, and alarmgeneration. The event may refer to any event that may affect an appexecution operation, because it is necessary to provide event-relatedinformation to the user through video signal or audio signal.

That is, the interrupt controlling unit 102 detects the occurrence of anevent during the execution of an app. When an event occurs during theexecution of an app, the interrupt controlling unit 102 controls andprocesses functions for displaying information representing the eventoccurrence on the display unit 120. Herein, the interrupt controllingunit 102 causes the app execution to be continued, while displaying theinformation representing the event occurrence on the screen. In certainembodiments, when detecting the reception of a call from a caller Awhile playing a video, the interrupt controlling unit 102 displaysinformation indicating the reception of the call from caller A in aspecified portion of the screen while continuing to play the video. Incertain embodiments, the specified portion of the screen, in which theinformation representing the event occurrence is displayed, may be atop, bottom, left or right portion of the screen in order not to disturbthe app execution.

Also, the interrupt controlling unit 102 detects a user's input throughthe input unit 130 and determines whether to interrupt the app by theevent. That is, the interrupt controlling unit 102 controls andprocesses functions for comparing a user input with specified inputmodes. According to the comparison result, the interrupt controllingunit 102 will either interrupt the current app and execute another appwhich is related to the event, or display additional information relatedto the event while continuing the app execution, or disregard the eventoccurrence and continuing the app execution. In certain embodiments,when information representing the reception of a text message from acaller while playing a video is displayed in a specified portion andthen the user touches and holds the information displayed in thespecified portion of the screen for a specified time or more, theinterrupt controlling unit 102 controls a function for interrupting thevideo play, executes a message managing app, and switches the screen fordisplaying the received message. Alternatively, when the user touchesand left-drags the information displayed in the specified portion, theinterrupt controlling unit 102 can display additional informationrelated to the received message, that is, the content of the receivedmessage. Also, when the user touches and right-drags the informationdisplayed in the specified portion of the screen, the interruptcontrolling unit 102 can disregard the message reception and continue toplay the video.

The communication unit 110 communicates with another node under thecontrol of the control unit 100. The communication unit 110 controls andprocesses a function for converting radio frequency (RF) signal receivedthrough an antenna into baseband signal and providing the basebandsignal to the control unit 100, and converting a baseband signalreceived from the control unit 100 into RF signal and transmitting theRF signal to another node through the antenna.

The display unit 120 displays a variety of status information, numerals,characters, and images that are generated during an operation of theportable terminal. In particular, the display unit 120 may display videosignals on a screen with the execution of an app in the portableterminal and may display event-related information in a specifiedportion of the screen when an event occurs.

The input unit 130 can include one or more function keys or touchsensors. The input unit 130 provides the control unit 100 with datacorresponding to a key pressed by the user or data corresponding to aposition touched by the user. In certain embodiments, according to thepresent disclosure, when an event occurs during the execution of an app,the input unit 130 receives data for determining whether to interruptthe app from the user and provides the data to the control unit 100.

The storage unit 140 stores a variety of program and status informationnecessary during an operation of the portable terminal. In certainembodiments, the storage unit 140 stores various apps that areexecutable in the portable terminal. Also, when an event occurs inrelation to an app that is being executed, the storage unit 140 storesinformation on a function that is to be performed based on user input.In certain embodiments, when a user drags in the left direction, thestorage unit 140 stores information indicating the performance of afunction for displaying additional information related to the eventwhile maintaining the app execution state. When a user drags in theright direction, the storage unit 140 stores information indicating theperformance of a function for disregarding the event while continuingthe app execution state. When a user continues to touch at the samepoint for a specified time or more, the storage unit 140 storesinformation indicating the performance of a function for interruptingthe app execution, executing an app corresponding to the event andswitching the screen. In addition to the above input modes, the inputmode can include a double touch, a curved touch, and avertically-dragged touch.

The method described above in relation with FIG. 1 under of the presentinvention may be provided as one or more instructions in one or moresoftware modules stored in the respective portable terminals.

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart illustrating an operation process of aportable terminal according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

In step 201, the portable terminal executes an app based on user'scontrol. In certain embodiments, the portable terminal executes a videoplayer app based on user's control.

In step 203, the portable terminal determines whether an event occursduring the app execution. When an event does not occur during the appexecution, the portable terminal returns to step 201 and maintains theapp execution state.

Alternatively, when an event occurs during the app execution, theportable terminal proceeds to step 205. In step 205, the portableterminal displays information representing the event occurrence on ascreen while continuing the app execution operation. In certainembodiments, when detecting message reception while playing a video, theportable terminal displays information indicating the reception of amessage from another user on the screen while continuing to play thevideo. Herein, in order not to interrupt the app execution, the portableterminal may display the information representing the event occurrencein a specified portion of the screen. In certain embodiments, when theapp plays a video containing a caption, the portable terminal candisplay the information representing the event occurrence on a screenportion that does not overlap with a caption area.

In step 207, the portable terminal determines whether user input hasbeen received. When user input has not been received for a specifiedtime, the portable terminal proceeds to step 221. In step 221, theportable terminal removes the displayed information while continuing theapp execution operation. Thereafter, the portable terminal returns tostep 201. That is, when the portable terminal informs the user of theevent occurrence during the app execution but a user input has notreceived for a specified time, the portable terminal continues the appexecution in step 201 without executing an app related to the event, bydetermining that the user desires to disregard the event.

Alternatively, when a user input has received, the portable terminalproceeds to step 209. In step 209, the portable terminal compares theuser input with the specified inputs and determines which function is tobe performed.

When it is determined in step 209 that the user input a commandcorresponding to Display Additional Information among specified inputmodes, the portable terminal proceeds to step 211. In step 211, theportable terminal detects additional information related to the eventand displays the additional information in a specified portion of thescreen while maintaining the app execution. The additional informationrelated to the event is detailed information of the event. In certainembodiments, when the event is message reception, the additionalinformation can be the content of a received message. If the event isalarm generation, the additional information can be a detailed schedulecorresponding to a generated alarm. Thereafter, the portable terminalreturns to step 207. Herein, the input command corresponding to DisplayAdditional Information can be a touch and drag from right to left. Inthis embodiment, the portable terminal may gradually move the displayedadditional information from the right to the left of the screen inaccordance with a drag operation of the user, thereby providing theeffect that the additional information flows from the right to the leftof the screen.

In another embodiment, when it is determined in step 209 that the userhas input a command corresponding to Branch among the specified inputcommands, the portable terminal proceeds to step 213. In step 213, theportable terminal interrupts the app execution, executes anevent-related app and switches the screen for the event related app.Herein, the input command corresponding to Branch can be a touchperformed on the screen for a specified time or more. In certainembodiments, in the state where a message has been received during videoplay and information indicating the message reception is displayed onthe screen, when the user touches a display portion of the informationfor a specified time or more, the portable terminal interrupts the videoplay, executes a message managing app and switches to a screen fordisplaying a received message.

In step 217, the portable terminal determines whether the event-relatedapp has ended. When the event-related app ends, the portable terminalproceeds to step 219. In step 219, the portable terminal re-executes theinterrupted app. Thereafter, the portable terminal returns to step 203.

In another embodiment, when it is determined in step 209 that the userhas input a command corresponding to Disregard among the specified inputcommands, the portable terminal proceeds to step 215. In step 215, theportable terminal removes the information displayed on the screen instep 205 while continuing to execute the app. Thereafter, the portableterminal returns to step 201. Herein, the command corresponding toDisregard can be a touch dragged from left to right. In this embodiment,the portable terminal can gradually move the displayed information fromthe left to the right of the screen in accordance with a drag operationof the user, thereby providing the effect that the displayed informationgradually disappears to the right of the screen.

As described above, when an event occurs during the execution of an app,the present invention provides information on the event to the userwhile maintaining the app execution state, thus allowing the user toselect whether to interrupt the app and then branch (or switch) toanother app which is related to the event, or to disregard the eventoccurrence and maintaining the app execution.

Thereafter, in order to assist in understanding the above description,an embodiment where a call reception event or a message reception eventoccurs during video play will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A to4B. Although a portable terminal is illustrated as being in a horizontalmode, the present disclosure can be applicable regardless of whether theportable terminal is in a horizontal mode or in a vertical mode.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a screen configuration for controlling aninterrupt by user's control when a call is received during the executionof an application in a portable terminal according to one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

The portable terminal plays a movie by executing a video player app byuser's control. When receiving a call from a caller while playing themovie, the portable terminal displays information indicating thereception of a call from the caller in a bottom portion of a screenwhile continuing to play the movie. In this case, when a user of theportable terminal touches and drags a relevant screen portion from rightto left, the portable terminal interrupts the video player app tointerrupt the movie play and executes a call-related app to display ascreen for connecting or rejecting a call. Although not illustrated inthe drawings, when the user rejects a call or a call connection isended, the portable terminal may re-execute the interrupted video playerapp to re-play the movie.

The portable terminal plays a movie by executing a video player appbased on user's control. When receiving a call from a caller whileplaying the movie, the portable terminal displays information indicatingthe reception of the call from the caller in a bottom portion of ascreen while continuing to play the movie. In this case, when a user ofthe portable terminal touches and drags a relevant screen portion fromleft to right, the portable terminal removes call reception informationdisplayed on the screen and continues to play the movie.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a screen configuration for controlling aninterrupt by user's control when a message is received during theexecution of an application in a portable terminal according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

The portable terminal plays a movie with a video player app by user'scontrol. When receiving a message from the caller while playing themovie, the portable terminal displays information indicating thereception of the message from the user A in a bottom portion of ascreen, while continuing playing the movie. In this embodiment, when auser of the portable terminal touches and drags a relevant part of thescreen portion from right to left, the portable terminal additionallydisplays the content of the received message in the bottom portion ofthe screen while continuing to play the movie. Thereafter, when the usertouches a relevant screen portion for a specified time or more, theportable terminal interrupts the video player app to pause the movie,and executes a message-related app to display on the screen anindication for checking the received message and performing amessage-related function. Although not illustrated in the drawings, whenthe user ends the message-related app after checking the receivedmessage or after performing the message-related function, the portableterminal may re-execute the interrupted video player app to re-play theinterrupted movie.

The portable terminal plays a movie by executing a video player app byuser's control. When receiving a message from a caller while playing themovie, the portable terminal displays information indicating thereception of the message from the caller in a bottom portion of ascreen, while continuing to play the movie. In this embodiment, when auser of the portable terminal touches and drags a relevant screenportion from left to right, the portable terminal removes messagereception information displayed on the screen and continues to play themovie.

As described above, in order to control an interrupt, a portableterminal according to one embodiment of the present disclosure performsan operation of executing an application by user's control, an operationof determining whether an event occurs during the application execution,an operation of displaying information representing the event occurrenceon a screen while maintaining the application execution, and anoperation of determining whether to interrupt the application by theevent with the user's control.

Also, in order to control an interrupt, a portable terminal according toone embodiment of the present disclosure includes a control unit forexecuting an application by user's control, determining whether an eventoccurs during the application execution, controlling a function fordisplaying information representing the event occurrence whilecontinuing to execute the application, and determining whether tointerrupt the application by the event based on user's control, adisplay unit for displaying images and information under the control ofthe control unit and an input unit for receiving control informationfrom the user.

It has been described that when an event occurs during app execution, aninterrupt is controlled with respect to all apps supported by theportable terminal. However, the above function of the present inventioncan be performed only with respect to an app that uses the entire screenof the portable terminal.

The methods according to the embodiments described in the claims and/orspecification of the present invention can be implemented by hardware,software, or a combination thereof.

When the methods are implemented by software, a computer-readablestorage medium can be provided to store one or more programs (softwaremodules). The one or more programs stored in the computer-readablestorage medium can be configured for execution by one or more processorsin an electronic device. The one or more programs can includeinstructions for causing the electronic device to execute the methodsaccording to the embodiments described in the claims and/orspecification of the present disclosure.

These programs (software modules or software) can be stored in randomaccess memories (RAMs), nonvolatile memories including flash memories,read only memories (ROMs), electrically erasable programmable ROMs(EEPROMs), magnetic disc storage devices, compact disc-ROMs (CD-ROMs),digital versatile discs (DVDs), other types of optical storage devices,or magnetic cassettes. Also, the programs can be stored in a memoryconfigured by a combination of some or all of such storage devices.Also, each of the memories can be provided in plurality.

Also, the programs may be stored in an attachable storage device thatcan be accessed by the electronic device through a communication networksuch as Internet, Intranet, local area network (LAN), wireless LAN(WLAN), or storage area network (SAN), or through a communicationnetwork configured by a combination thereof. This storage device canaccess the electronic device through an external port.

Also, a separate storage device on a communication network can access aportable electronic device.

As described above, when an event occurs during the execution of anapplication in a portable terminal, the present invention allows a userto select whether to interrupt the application, by providing informationon the event occurrence to the user while maintaining the applicationexecution state. Accordingly, the present disclosure can prevent theapplication from being interrupted by an event that is not desired bythe user.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention isdefined not by the detailed description of the invention but by theappended claims, and all differences within the scope will be construedas being included in the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile communication terminal, comprising: atouch screen configured to display information and receive user inputs;and a controller configured to: detect a reception of a message duringan execution of an application, control the touch screen to display anotification window associated with the received message in response todetecting the reception of the message while displaying at least aportion of an application screen associated with continuous execution ofthe application, control the touch screen to display a portion ofcontent of the received message in the notification window, and inresponse to detecting a drag input on the notification window, controlthe touch screen to display another portion of the content of thereceived message in the notification window while displaying changes inthe application screen according to the continuous execution of theapplication.
 2. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, whereinthe changes in the application screen are displayed to reflect thecontinuous execution of the application while the displayed content inthe notification window is being altered.
 3. The mobile communicationterminal of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configured to: inresponse to detecting a touch input on a region of the notificationwindow, pause the display of changes reflecting the continuous executionof the application, execute a message application, and control the touchscreen to display a screen of the message application.
 4. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 2, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: in response to detecting a touch input on thenotification window, pause the display of changes reflecting thecontinuous execution of the application, execute a message application,and control the touch screen to display a screen of the messageapplication.
 5. The mobile communication terminal of claim 2, whereinthe controller is further configured to: detect a touch input on thenotification window while the displayed content in the notificationwindow is being altered; and in response to detecting the touch input onthe notification window, pause the display changes reflecting thecontinuous execution of the application, execute a message application,and control the touch screen to display a screen of the messageapplication.
 6. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, whereinthe controller is further configured to: continue the execution of theapplication while altering the displayed content in the notificationwindow and cause information shown in the application screen to changeduring the continuing execution of the application.
 7. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 6, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: in response to detecting a touch input on a region of thenotification window, pause the execution of the application, execute amessage application, and control the touch screen to display a screen ofthe message application.
 8. The mobile communication terminal of claim6, wherein the controller is further configured to: in response todetecting a touch input on the notification window, pause the executionof the application, execute a message application, and control the touchscreen to display a screen of the message application.
 9. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 6, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: detect a touch input on the notification window whilealtering the displayed content in the notification window; and inresponse to detecting the touch input on the notification window, pausethe execution of the application, execute a message application, andcontrol the touch screen to display a screen of the message application.10. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the changes inthe application screen are displayed to reflect the continuous executionof the application.
 11. The mobile communication terminal of claim 10,wherein the controller is further configured to: in response todetecting a touch input on a region of the notification window, pausethe display of changes reflecting the continuous execution of theapplication, execute a message application, and control the touch screento display a screen of the message application.
 12. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 10, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: detect a touch input on the notification window while thedisplayed content in the notification window is being altered; and inresponse to detecting the touch input on the notification window, pausethe display of changes reflecting the continuous execution of theapplication, execute a message application, and control the touch screento display a screen of the message application.
 13. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is configuredto: continue the execution of the application while displaying thenotification window; and cause information shown in the applicationscreen to change during the continuing execution of the application. 14.The mobile communication terminal of claim 13, wherein the controller isfurther configured to: in response to detecting a touch input on aregion of the notification window, pause the execution of theapplication, execute a message application, and control the touch screento display a screen of the message application.
 15. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 13, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: detect a touch input on the notification window while thedisplayed content in the notification window is being altered; and inresponse to detecting the touch input on the notification window, pausethe execution of the application, execute a message application, andcontrol the touch screen to display a screen of the message application.16. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, wherein thenotification window is displayed at a position of the touch screen notinterrupt to obstruct the portion of the application screen associatedwith the continuous execution of the application.
 17. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 1, wherein the at least the portion ofthe application screen associated with the continuous execution of theapplication is located on a first portion of the touch screen, andwherein the controller is further configured to display the notificationwindow at a second position of the touch screen, where the secondposition does not overlap the first portion of the touch screen.
 18. Themobile communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the application is amultimedia player, and the execution of the application is themultimedia player playing multimedia content on touch screen.
 19. Themobile communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the changes in theapplication screen are displayed while the notification window istransitioning from displaying the portion of the message to displayingthe other portion of the message, to reflect the continuous execution ofthe application.
 20. The mobile communication terminal of claim 19,wherein the controller is further configured to: in response todetecting a touch input on a region of the notification window, pausethe display of changes reflecting the continuous execution of theapplication, execute a message application, and control the touch screento display a screen of the message application.
 21. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 19, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: in response to detecting a touch input on thenotification window, pause the display of changes reflecting thecontinuous execution of the application, execute a message application,and control the touch screen to display a screen of the messageapplication.
 22. The mobile communication terminal of claim 19, whereinthe controller is further configured to: detect a touch input on thenotification window while the displayed content in the notificationwindow is being altered; and in response to detecting the touch input onthe notification window, pause the display of changes reflecting thecontinuous execution of the application, execute a message application,and control the touch screen to display a screen of the messageapplication.
 23. A mobile communication terminal, comprising: a touchscreen configured to display information and receive user inputs; and acontroller configured to: detect a reception of a message during anexecution of an application, control the touch screen to display anotification window associated with the received message in response todetecting the reception of the message while displaying at least aportion of an application screen associated with continuous execution ofthe application, control the touch screen to display a portion ofcontent of the received message in the notification window, in responseto detecting a drag input on the notification window, control the touchscreen to display another portion of the content of the received messagein the notification window while displaying changes in the applicationscreen according to the continuous execution of the application, and inresponse to detecting a touch input on the notification window, pausethe display of changes that are in accordance with the continuousexecution of the application, execute a message application, and controlthe touch screen to display a screen of the message application.
 24. Themobile communication terminal of claim 23, wherein the controller isfurther configured to detect the touch input on a region of thenotification window.
 25. The mobile communication terminal of claim 23,wherein the controller is further configured to detect the touch inputon the notification window while the displayed content in thenotification window is being altered.
 26. A mobile communicationterminal, comprising: a touch screen configured to display informationand receive user inputs; and a controller configured to: execute a videoapplication to play a video image on the touch screen, detect areception of a message while the video image is being played via theexecution of the video application on the touch screen, in response todetecting the reception of the message, control the touch screen todisplay on a portion of the touch screen a notification windowassociated with the received message, while playing the video imageassociated with the execution of the video application on the touchscreen, control the touch screen to display a portion of content of thereceived message in the notification window, and in response todetecting a first touch input on the notification window, control thetouch screen to display another portion of content of the receivedmessage in the notification window while playing the video image via theexecution of the video application.
 27. A mobile communication terminalcomprising: a touch screen configured to display information and receiveuser inputs; and a controller configured to: execute a video applicationto play a video image on the touch screen, detect a reception of amessage while the video image is being played via the execution of thevideo application on the touch screen, in response to detecting thereception of the message, control the touch screen to display, on aportion of the touch screen, a notification window associated with thereceived message while playing the video image associated with theexecution of the video application on the touch screen, control thetouch screen to display a portion of content of the received message inthe notification window, in response to detecting a first touch input onthe notification window, control the touch screen to display anotherportion of content of the received message in the notification windowwhile playing the video image via the execution of the videoapplication, and in response to detecting a second touch input on thenotification window, pause the video image played via the execution ofthe video application, execute a message application, and control thetouch screen to display a message application screen, wherein themessage application screen is configured to display, the content of thereceived message.
 28. The mobile communication terminal of claim 27,wherein the controller is further configured to: in response todetecting an indication to exit the message application, continueplaying the video image associated with the execution of the videoapplication on the touch screen, from the pause.
 29. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 27, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: detect the second touch input on a region of thenotification window.
 30. The mobile communication terminal of claim 27,wherein the controller is further configured to: detect the second touchinput on the notification window while altering the displayed content ofthe received message in the notification window.
 31. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 30, wherein the second touch input isone of a touch for a predetermined duration, a double touch, a curvedtouch, or a vertical drag.
 32. The mobile communication terminal ofclaim 27, wherein the displayed message application occupies an entiredisplay area of the touch screen.
 33. The mobile communication terminalof claim 26, wherein the first touch input, which is a drag input, isdetected on the displayed content of the received message, and whereinthe controller is further configured to: continue the execution of thevideo application while altering the displayed content in thenotification window and cause the video image to reflect the continuousexecution of the video application while the displayed content in thenotification window is being altered.
 34. The mobile communicationterminal of claim 26, wherein the controller is further configured to:continue the execution of the video application while altering thedisplayed content in the notification window and cause the video imageto change according to the continuous execution of the videoapplication.
 35. The mobile communication terminal of claim 26, whereinthe controller is further configured to continue displaying results ofthe execution of the video application while altering the portion of thecontent of the received message displayed in the notification window.36. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computerexecutable instructions that, when executed, by at least one processorof an electronic device, cause the electronic device to: detect areception of a message during an execution of an application; control atouch screen of the electronic device to display a notification windowassociated with the received message in response to detecting thereception of the message while displaying at least a portion of anapplication screen associated with continuous execution of theapplication; control the touch screen to display a portion of content ofthe received message in the notification window; and in response todetecting a drag input on the notification window, control the touchscreen to display another portion of the content of the received messagein the notification window while displaying changes in the applicationscreen according to the continuous execution of the application.
 37. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein the changesin the application screen are displayed to reflect the continuousexecution of the application while the displayed content in thenotification window is being altered.
 38. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 37, wherein the computer executableinstructions, when executed, by the at least one processor, cause theelectronic device to: in response to detecting a touch input on a regionof the notification window, pause the display of changes reflecting thecontinuous execution of the application, execute a message application,and control the touch screen to display a screen of the messageapplication.
 39. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim37, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, by theat least one processor, cause the electronic device to: in response todetecting a touch input on the notification window, pause the display ofchanges reflecting the continuous execution of the application, executea message application, and control the touch screen to display a screenof the message application.
 40. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 37, wherein the computer executable instructions, whenexecuted, by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:detect a touch input on the notification window while the displayedcontent in the notification window is being altered; and in response todetecting the touch input on the notification window, pause the displayof changes reflecting the continuous execution of the application,execute a message application, and control the touch screen to display ascreen of the message application.
 41. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 36, wherein the changes in the applicationscreen are displayed while the notification window is transitioning fromdisplaying the portion of the message to displaying the other portion ofthe message, to reflect the continuous execution of the application. 42.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 41, wherein thecomputer executable instructions, when executed, by the at least oneprocessor, cause the electronic device to: in response to detecting atouch input on a region of the notification window, pause the display ofchanges reflecting the continuous execution of the application, executea message application, and control the touch screen to display a screenof the message application.
 43. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 41, wherein the computer executable instructions, whenexecuted, by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:in response to detecting a touch input on the notification window, pausethe display of changes reflecting the continuous execution of theapplication, execute a message application, and control the touch screento display a screen of the message application.
 44. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 41, wherein the computer executableinstructions, when executed, by the at least one processor, cause theelectronic device to: detect a touch input on the notification windowwhile the displayed content in the notification window is being altered;and in response to detecting the touch input on the notification window,pause the display of changes reflecting the continuous execution of theapplication, execute a message application, and control the touch screento display a screen of the message application.
 45. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 36, wherein the computer executableinstructions, when executed, by the at least one processor, cause theelectronic device to: continue the execution of the application whilealtering the displayed content in the notification window and causeinformation shown in the application screen to change during thecontinuing execution of the application.
 46. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 45, wherein the computer executableinstructions, when executed, by the at least one processor, cause theelectronic device to: in response to detecting a touch input on a regionof the notification window, pause the execution of the application,execute a message application, and control the touch screen to display ascreen of the message application.
 47. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 45, wherein the computer executableinstructions, when executed, by the at least one processor, cause theelectronic device to: in response to detecting a touch input on thenotification window, pause the execution of the application, execute amessage application, and control the touch screen to display a screen ofthe message application.
 48. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 45, wherein the computer executable instructions, whenexecuted, by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:detect a touch input on the notification window while altering thedisplayed content in the notification window; and in response todetecting the touch input on the notification window, pause theexecution of the application, execute a message application, and controlthe touch screen to display a screen of the message application.
 49. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein the changesin the application screen are displayed to reflect the continuousexecution of the application.
 50. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 49, wherein the computer executable instructions, whenexecuted, by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:in response to detecting a touch input on a region of the notificationwindow, pause the display of changes reflecting the continuous executionof the application, execute a message application, and control the touchscreen to display a screen of the message application.
 51. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 49, wherein thecomputer executable instructions, when executed, by the at least oneprocessor, cause the electronic device to: detect a touch input on thenotification window while altering the displayed content in thenotification window; and in response to detecting the touch input on thenotification window, pause the display of changes reflecting thecontinuous execution of the application, execute a message application,and control the touch screen to display a screen of the messageapplication.
 52. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim36, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, by theat least one processor, cause the electronic device to: continue theexecution of the application while displaying the notification window;and cause information shown in the application screen to change duringthe continuing execution of the application.
 53. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 52, wherein the computer executableinstructions, when executed, by the at least one processor, cause theelectronic device to: in response to detecting a touch input on a regionof the notification window, pause the execution of the application,execute a message application, and control the touch screen to display ascreen of the message application.
 54. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 52, wherein the computer executableinstructions, when executed, by the at least one processor, cause theelectronic device to: detect a touch input on the notification windowwhile altering the displayed content of the received message in thenotification window; and in response to detecting the touch input on thenotification window, pause the execution of the application, execute amessage application, and control the touch screen to display a screen ofthe message application.
 55. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 36, wherein the notification window is displayed at a positionof the touch screen not to obstruct the portion of the applicationscreen associated with the continuous execution of the application. 56.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein the atleast the portion of the application screen associated with thecontinuous execution of the application is located on a first portion ofthe touch screen, and wherein the instructions are further configured tocause the at least one processor to display the notification window at asecond position of the touch screen, where the second position does notoverlap the first portion of the touch screen.
 57. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 36, wherein the application is amultimedia player, and the execution of the application is themultimedia player playing multimedia content on touch screen.
 58. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executableinstructions that, when executed by at least one processor of anelectronic device, cause the electronic device to: detect a reception ofa message during an execution of an application; control a touch screenof the electronic device to display a notification window associatedwith the received message in response to detecting the reception of themessage while displaying at least a portion of an application screenassociated with continuous execution of the application; control thetouch screen to display a portion of content of the received message inthe notification window; in response to detecting a drag input on thenotification window, control the touch screen to display another portionof the content of the received message in the notification window whiledisplaying changes in the application screen according to the continuousexecution of the application; and in response to detecting a touch inputon the notification window, pause the display of changes that are inaccordance with the continuous execution of the application, execute amessage application, and control the touch screen to display a screen ofthe message application.
 59. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 58, wherein the computer executable instructions, whenexecuted, by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the at leastone processor to detect the touch input on a region of the notificationwindow.
 60. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 58,wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed, by the atleast one processor, cause the electronic device to: wherein theinstructions are further configured to cause the at least one processorto detect the touch input on the notification window while the displayedcontent in the notification window is being altered.
 61. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executableinstructions that, when executed, by at least one processor of anelectronic device, cause the electronic device to: execute a videoapplication to play a video image on a touch screen of the electronicdevice; detect a reception of a message while the video image is beingplayed via the execution of the video application on the touch screen;in response to detecting the reception of the message, control the touchscreen to display on a portion of the touch screen a notification windowassociated with the received message, while playing the video imageassociated with the execution of the video application on the touchscreen; control the touch screen to display a portion of content of thereceived message in the notification window; and in response todetecting a first touch input on the notification window, control thetouch screen to display another portion of content of the receivedmessage in the notification window while playing the video image via theexecution of the video application.
 62. A non-transitory computerreadable medium storing computer executable instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one processor of an electronic device, cause theelectronic device to: execute a video application to play a video imageon a touch screen of the electronic device; detect a reception of amessage while the video image is being played via the execution of thevideo application on the touch screen; in response to detecting thereception of the message, control the touch screen to display, on aportion of the touch screen, a notification window associated with thereceived message while playing the video image associated with theexecution of the video application on the touch screen; control thetouch screen to display a portion of content of the received message inthe notification window; in response to detecting a first touch input onthe notification window, control the touch screen to display anotherportion of content of the received message in the notification windowwhile playing the video image via the execution of the videoapplication; and in response to detecting a second touch input on thenotification window, pause the video image played via the execution ofthe video application, execute a message application, and control thetouch screen to display a message application screen, wherein themessage application screen is configured to display the content of thereceived message.
 63. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 62, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed,by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to: detectthe second touch input on a region of the notification window.
 64. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 62, wherein thecomputer executable instructions, when executed, by the at least oneprocessor, cause the electronic device to: detect the second touch inputon the notification window while the displayed content in thenotification window is being altered.
 65. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 62, wherein the displayed message applicationoccupies an entire display area of the touch screen.
 66. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 61, wherein thecomputer executable instructions, when executed, by the at least oneprocessor, cause the electronic device to: continue the execution of thevideo application while altering the displayed content in thenotification window and cause the video image to reflect the continuousexecution of the video application while the displayed content in thenotification window is being altered, wherein the first touch input,which is a drag input, is detected on the displayed content of thereceived message.
 67. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 61, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed,by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to: continuethe execution of the video application while altering the displayedcontent in the notification window and cause the video image to changeaccording to the continuous execution of the video application.
 68. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 61, wherein thecomputer executable instructions, when executed, by the at least oneprocessor, cause the electronic device to: continue displaying resultsof the execution of the video application while altering the portion ofthe content of the received message displayed in the notificationwindow.